The Black Chains Take Hold

Yu Wei smiled as she watched Ji Ning press his hand against her belly. “If only it could always be like this… but…”

In the depths of Yu Wei’s heart, there was a shadow she could never escape.

She belonged to the Seamless Gate. This had been decided in her previous life. Her soul had been marked by the Godking; she had no way to resist it. Because of that soul brand, the Godking felt like a father to her. She knew this was the truth, and yet she could not feel a trace of malice towards him. Instead, all she felt was childlike adoration. But at the same time, her heart refused to harm Ji Ning.

“Ever since this war began, the Greenfox has only asked me a single question, back when it first started. There’s been no movement since.” Yu Wei was constantly worried. “I don’t know when they’ll give me another order.”

As the war continued, the days of happiness she shared with Ji Ning were drawing closer to their end.

One day, she would have to part ways with him forever.

“I hope that day comes late.”

“At least… let my child with my junior apprentice-brother be born safe into this world.” Yu Wei prayed silently.

…

At high noon the next day, the Golden Crow hung high in the sky, at its most scorching.

The Seamless City.

Main hall.

Eight Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were all seated.

“Fellow Daoists.” The black-robed, black-haired elder with red pupils rose to his feet, his calm voice carrying a bone-deep chill. “Today is the day Ji Ning dies! I ask for your assistance!”

“Haha, if you, Fellow Daoist Chibing, can kill Ji Ning, then the Xia Clan will have lost its most powerful Xingtian God. It would be no different from the Great Xia losing an Empyrean God or True Immortal.” Bai Ji True Immortal laughed heartily. “If you can even kill his true body, the merit would be immense. I will definitely report it to the Godking.”

Chibing True Immortal shook his head calmly. “I have no absolute certainty of killing his true body. If his true body remains with this second true body… then we have a chance to wipe them both out! If his true body isn’t with him, then I fear this time we can only slay his second true body.”

No one knew where Ji Ning’s true body was hidden. This was why Immortal Wuxiao had sent Chibing True Immortal here. The target was this second true body.

Once the second true body died, Ji Ning would lose one of his lives.

Ji Ning had a total of two lives: his true body and his second true body. How precious was each life?

In truth, Ji Ning’s true body was inside the underwater estate, and the underwater estate was always following along with his second true body!

“Everyone. Let us depart.” Bai Ji True Immortal rose to his feet and laughed. “If we slay Ji Ning today, we must hold a grand celebratory feast.”

“Today, we’ll rely on your strength, Fellow Daoist Chibing, for our entertainment.”

“I have fought with this Ji Ning countless times, and yet I have never been able to do anything to him.”

Duque Empyrean God and the others rose to their feet one by one.

They then left the main hall and began to deploy their armies.

…

Within the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

“Prepare for battle!” The Xia Emperor’s voice rang throughout the entire Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

Instantly, every military camp began to stir.

Inside the camp of the Northbow Legion.

“Senior apprentice-sister, prepare the meal and wait for me to return.” Ji Ning rose to his feet upon hearing the Xia Emperor’s command. “Today, I’m in the mood for ‘White Snow Nine Dragons Roar’.” These dish names were all made up by Yu Wei. Ever since becoming a Celestial Immortal, Ji Ning’s palate had shifted more towards vegetarian dishes. This dish was one such vegetarian meal.

Before Yu Wei could reply, Ji Ning had transformed into a streak of light and flown away.

Yu Wei walked to the door and gazed into the distance at Ji Ning’s figure amidst the countless soldiers. “Come back safely.” Every time Ji Ning went on an expedition, Yu Wei couldn’t help but worry.

“Form the formation!”

Within the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

At Ji Ning’s command, his subordinate force of a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals all began to execute the formation. The looks they gave Ji Ning were filled with trust. These three years had raised his prestige to an astonishing level.

Soon, the ten-thousand-zhang tall, headless Fiendgod, ‘Xingtian God’, took form.

The seven Xingtian Gods glanced at each other.

“Let’s go teach those little bastards from the Seamless Gate a lesson.” The seven Xingtian Gods laughed as they departed from the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

Just moments after the seven Xingtian Gods disappeared, five Celestial Emperor puppets also set out.

On the scarred, endless wilderness, the thousand-li lake that had once been there had long since vanished. Even most of the lake’s water had been directly annihilated in these terrifying battles, leaving behind only a few residual rivers and streams.

Three White-Faced Flood Dragons and eight Celestial Emperor puppets were issuing their battle challenges.

Whoosh.

The seven Xingtian Gods materialized out of thin air.

“Fight.”

“Kill.”

Led by Duque the White-Faced Flood Dragon, the Seamless Gate forces immediately charged forward.

“Let’s go.” At Ji Ning’s command, the seven Xingtian Gods also advanced to meet them. At this moment, the five Celestial Emperor puppets of the Great Xia also appeared.

“Boom.”

Xingtian God Ji Ning and Duque the White-Faced Flood Dragon engaged in one-on-one combat.

They were far too familiar with this kind of battle. They had fought this way countless times now. Both sides were extremely familiar with each other’s techniques… but neither Ji Ning nor his allies dared to be careless. This kind of protracted, grinding warfare had two main purposes: one was to pin down the enemy’s forces, and the other was that, even though their battles seemed to be a give-and-take exchange with no one dying, both sides were like venomous snakes, silently waiting for an opening.

Once an opening appeared, they would instantly bare their fangs! Even the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals secretly following behind both sides would all make their moves, determined to destroy a portion of the enemy’s power in a single strike.

“An opening.”

“I need an opening.”

As Ji Ning joined forces with Tonghe to fight against Duque the White-Faced Flood Dragon, his mind remained ice-cold, silently observing the battlefield situation.

Over these three years, his strength had actually grown considerably.

Dancing on the razor’s edge between life and death for so long had greatly aided his comprehension of the Dao of the Sword. First, his Dao of the Sword had reached a bottleneck. Based on his current level of Dao insight, Ji Ning had even created the eleventh stance of the ‘Three-Foot Sword’.

He had also made some progress in his Heartforce Soul-Operation technique. Although he had yet to reach the ‘Minor Success’ stage described in Old Man Yuan’s ‘Heart Sutra’ regarding this technique, if Ji Ning were to use this technique, his ability to control the Xingtian God’s power would triple! This explosive increase in power, combined with his higher-level sword art, would allow Ji Ning’s strength to rise to a whole new level.

But…

Even at this new level, Ji Ning knew he was still no match for Duque the White-Faced Flood Dragon.

“Even if I suddenly reveal a bit more of my strength, the Seamless Gate will immediately adjust according to my new power. That won’t do any good for the overall situation.” Ji Ning thought to himself. “I have to find an opening. A suitable opening. Then, I can suddenly unleash my full power and take out one of the White-Faced Flood Dragons.”

Qianzhen’s death, in particular, made Ji Ning long for this day even more.

When Qianzhen had died, Ji Ning had wanted to save him, but he had been too far away to help. The Xia Emperor and the others had all acted, but it had been too late.

On the battlefield… combat truly happened too fast. In a single instant, life and death were decided!

“Looking for an opening.”

…

Inside the underwater estate.

The Yellow-Furred Bear and the seven Empyrean Gods were in the main hall, all sitting and eating immortal fruits while drinking immortal wine.

“This Ji Ning is truly insane. His second true body is fighting outside while his true body is still frantically cultivating in the Starseizing Hall.” The gentle youth, Jiushe Empyrean God, raised his wine glass and smiled as he looked at the void images. The Yellow-Furred Bear had created these void images; he could use his spatial senses to investigate the outside world. Since the underwater estate was being carried by the second true body, it was only natural that he could probe the scene of the battle.

“The Great Calamity has arrived. Ji Ning feels the pressure, and his child with Yu Wei is about to be born amidst it. Of course he wants to protect Yu Wei and the child, so it’s no surprise he’s cultivating frantically.” Hongxue Empyrean God said calmly.

The true body and the second true body shared memories, but otherwise did not affect each other.

Even if the second true body was fully committed to fighting, the true body could still devote himself entirely to cultivation.

“Mm. Ji Ning’s strength is steadily improving. His Dao of the Sword has already reached a bottleneck. Once his Dao is perfected, the time for his Empyrean Tribulation will be close.” The child-like Empyrean God Yuan Guang looked forward to it with anticipation. “Once he becomes an Empyrean God, that will be the time for our Starseizing Manor to emerge into the world.”

“It has been a very long time since the name of the Starseizing Manor has resounded through the Three Realms.”

The other Empyrean Gods were all looking forward to it as well.

Ever since the Great Xia War had begun, the seven of them had decided to simply take up residence in the underwater estate. After all, Ji Ning might encounter danger at any time during the war. If he truly did, and they had to be summoned from the Starseizing Major World to the underwater estate and then out to the outside world, that would take time… and in that brief span of time, Ji Ning could very well lose his life.

They didn’t dare to gamble.

That was why they had been living in the estate for a long time.

“Look. The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals are appearing.”

“The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals on both sides are also coming out. It seems today’s slaughter will have a few more twists and turns. Interesting.”

“Yeah, so boring. Always just killing and killing. It’s only interesting when a bunch of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals die.” Lieyang Empyrean God’s voice was booming.

Outside.

The fighting between the two sides had already become frenzied. On the Great Xia side, ‘Dongyan True Immortal’ and ‘Huoyun Empyrean God’ had appeared, mainly because the Seamless Gate side had sent ‘Chibing True Immortal’ and ‘Sanyang Empyrean God’.

The True Immortals began to use their techniques and spells, influencing the tide of battle.

The Empyrean Gods would sometimes cast spells, sometimes engage in close combat.

The moment they joined the fray… the situation became chaotic. And chaos created opportunities.

“An opening, an opening…” Ji Ning fought carefully, becoming even more vigilant as he searched for an opening to slay an opponent.

“Go.”

The red-pupiled elder, Chibing True Immortal, floated in the distance and pointed with his finger from afar. Instantly, countless black flowers and grasses began to grow on the earth. These flowers and grasses rapidly began to bind the feet of the seven Xingtian Gods and the nine Celestial Emperor puppets. However, the Xingtian Gods and the Celestial Emperor puppets were all supremely powerful; they could tear through the plants, but their speed was still affected.

“Damn it.” Ji Ning hated this kind of binding spell the most. This Chibing True Immortal appeared almost every ten days or half-month. Ji Ning and his side had long since gained experience in dealing with this sort of black flower-and-grass binding spell, but they were still affected.

In the distance, Chibing True Immortal was silently chanting his incantation in his heart.

A speck of golden light appeared in his palm.

This was a strand of liquid gold from his inner ‘Golden Core’, the most precious thing he had, containing an incredibly dense amount of Pure Yang Ki.

“Birth.” Chibing True Immortal silently uttered this single word.

The vast expanse of black flowers and grasses quickly began to wither. However, the black flowers and grasses beneath Ji Ning’s feet began to grow wildly, their height rapidly increasing. Previously, they had only reached a few hundred zhang, barely able to affect the Xingtian God’s toes. But now, they shot up to over two thousand zhang, frantically binding Ji Ning’s legs.

Then, from within these black flowers and grasses, nine black chains appeared.

These black chains were very similar to the ones the Seamless Gate used to permeate the void. Nine black chains shot into the sky, reaching tens of thousands of zhang in length. They frantically coiled around Ji Ning, wrapping around him again and again, carrying with them a mysterious spatial power. Ji Ning used his sword techniques, but he couldn’t break through the black chains. Instead, they only bound him even more tightly.

“Ji Ning!”

“Northbow!”

The other six Xingtian Gods were all shocked and alarmed. They could all feel the terrifying power contained within those black chains.

“The technique Wuxiao passed on to me is truly formidable.” Chibing True Immortal did not hesitate for a moment. A red jade vase appeared in his hand, and he pointed it from afar at Ji Ning, bellowing, “Why haven’t you entered yet?!”

An overwhelming suction force enveloped the Xingtian God Ji Ning, who was bound by the nine black chains in the distance.